The Quarantine Train hosts sessions on Tuesdays and Saturdays 8-10 PM IST* via Zoom. Recordings are made available on the official Facebook page following sessions by guest speakers and appreciation sessions. Critiquing sessions are for members only and are not made available to the public.
Guest speakers include celebrated writers such as Vivek Narayanan, Thorarinn Hannesson, and Anil Menon, with topics ranging from imaginary translation, Icelandic poetic tradition, and speculative fiction. For appreciation sessions, select poems and other readings are circulated to the members prior to the session; during the session, each of the poems are discussed stanza-by-stanza as members explore their literary merit, historical and cultural contexts, and personal interpretations and associations.
Each month, members are provided with two prompts to craft their own poems; up to four poems are selected for critique every month. Similar to appreciation sessions, members will discuss interpretations of the poem before offering constructive criticism for improvement. Some poets’ works critiqued through The Quarantine Train have since been published.
If you are interested in joining The Quarantine Train, you can reach out to us via our social media platforms.
If you are a college or university educator wanting to grant your students the opportunity to gain extra credit while promoting poetry, literary, and/or cultural experiences outside of the classroom, you can write to us at thequarantinetrain@gmail.com with a proposal for collaboration.
Watch previous sessions here